Gigabyte P34G First Impressions

@ 2013/10/02

Over the course of a year, we look at a lot of devices and hardware; while it may require a lot of effort to publish a full review on our part, the good news is that there are many products where you don’t need to invest that much time before you can decide whether or not you’re interested in reading more.

Take laptops as a prime example; I can walk through Best Buy, Walmart, Costco, etc. and look at all of the laptops, and in most cases I will know within minutes whether or not the laptop is worth a closer look. That’s because despite the areas where we benchmark systems (i.e. testing the CPU, GPU, battery life, LCD quality), the real factors that make one laptop good and another mediocre are things that are easily discerned without a lot of testing: display quality, the feel of the keyboard, build quality, the touchpad, the speakers, and the overall design of a laptop. Some people can be content with just about anything, but as a technology enthusiast I look for products that don’t just work but work well.

You might think based on the above that this first impressions piece isn’t going to end well for Gigabyte, but that’s actually not the case! We’ve already reviewed the primary competition (Razer Blade 14 and MSI GE40 -- though we’re still looking for a Clevo W230ST), which are all relatively thin and light laptops with a decent amount of performance available. Gigabyte is the latecomer to the party, but the P34G has been on our radars since we first heard about it, and despite the delays we’re happy to report that we now have one in hand and are working on the review. The old cliche is “good things come to those who wait”, and that may very well be the case with the P34G.